How to save a life
by PiperHalliwell23
Summary: Voldemort took everything Sirius Black loved. His friends,his life and the only woman he ever truly loved. Sirius wanted to die on his own terms.So what happened after Sirius fell through the veil? A woman from his past shows up in the afterlife and she takes him back on a trip through his life, and gives him a choicebut he will find that his answer won't be as easily as he thought
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: The end or the beginning?

Sirius's POV

"AVADA KADAVRA!"

someone screamed from inside the Department of Mysteries.

I'm about to send a spell at my dear cousin, but it appears that she beat me to it.

I'm struck and look up at her in surprise. I go to take a breath, but I soon realize that I can't .

I try again.

I can't breathe.

I stumble backwards and look over at Harry.

I try to say something to him as he cries out for me. I fall back into the veil.

"I'm sorry I failed you!"

I cry to my godson, but I'm too late.

I fall into a bright light. As I land, I find myself in a field with a lone oak tree. Underneath that tree sits a woman.

If I still needed to breathe, my breath would've caught.

Sitting under the tree was a woman with long chestnut curls, long eyelashes that lay gently on her flawless, pale skin. She looks exactly same since the day I found her dead in our home October 31,1981.

She opens her emerald green eyes and they pierce me. I take a step closer. She stands and walks over to me, smiling sadly.

"I hoped this day would never come, at least not for a long while more."

She says to me.

"Briar? But you're…..you're"

I can't bring myself to say it. She nods.

"Dead. Yes, I am. And darling, it breaks me to say it but so are you."

I nod.

"I gathered, my cousin was always a bitch. Jealous of me, damn my good looks."

I say, trying to make a joke. She smiles.

"There's the Sirius that I fell in love with."

She says. I gather her in my arms and kiss her lightly on the lips. Something that I could only dream about for so long.

"What's going to happen now?"

I ask her, suddenly aware of where we are.

"You will choose a path, something that I can't help you with." She says to me.

"Well, what are the choices?" I ask her. She motions for me to follow her. We sit down together and lean against the massive tree.

"You weren't meant to die today Sirius. So you've been given another chance. You can either move on, or you can go back to Harry. Before you decide though, they want you to take some time. Do you remember when we met?"

She asks me quietly, changing the subject as she lays her head of my shoulder. Wow. That's a lot to take in, but I'll do as she says and take some time. Besides, I lost her once, I never want to let her go again.

"Yes, you fell in love with me the moment you laid eyes on me."

I say with a cheeky smile.

She turns her head to look up at me.

"You and I remember Hogwarts very differently. If I recall correctly, I believe I hated your guts from the moment I laid eyes on you."

She says with a laugh. I try not to pout, which only makes her laugh more.

"Why did you hate me so much?"

I ask her curiously. She sighs.

"Well, when I met you, you were arrogant, conceited, cocky, self righteous, over confident and you knew it."

She said.

"Don't hold back sweetheart."

I say to her. We both start to laugh again.

"I've missed this."

I say to her, leaning my head against the top of her's. "I've missed you so much, but I always had a way of going back to visit it."

She says, standing up and offering me her small hand. I take it and we walk into the field.

She brings me to the edge of a forest.

"What are we doing here?"

I ask her. She just smiles and closes her eyes. Something pops into existence at the edge of the trees.

"Is that...?"

I ask her.

"A pensive, yes. "They" it to me until it was my time to move on."

She said, pulling me towards it. Briar touches the bowl and an image appears, floating in the water. I stop.

"Wait. Who are "They"." I ask her. She looks up.

"You know... "Them"." She says.

I nod. I got it.

The fact that I was taking this so lightly scared me.

"So, are you ready?" She asks me.

I look at her with confusion and affection.

"For what darling?"

I ask her. Briar smiles brightly.

"We're going back to the day we met."

Before I can protest Briar drags us into the pensive and we fall together, back to

Hogwarts.

A/N: Alright guys, I hope that you will like this story. I have no idea where I'm going with this but hopefully it turns out alright. Please review and tell me if is a terrible idea, I'd like to know. Thanks guys!

PiperHalliwell23


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: The train

Briar's POV

September 1st, 1971

Deep breath Briar, you can do this.

Just relax.

I close my eyes, trying desperately not to pass out from fright. It's not everyday that you're supposed to run at a brick wall. Even coming from a pureblood family and having magic around me all my life hasn't fully prepared me for this.

It's just not logical, I think to myself as I stare down the brick pillar between platforms nine and ten. My mother and father finally catch up with me, walking calmly over to where I stood shaking.

"Are you ready to go pumpkin?"

My father asks me, looking down at me with his confident brown eyes. I take a deep breath and nod solemnly. He ruffles my hair and gives me a grin.

"That's my girl."

My father, Andrew Mitchell is the head of the Auror department and is one of the bravest people I know.

The only unfortunate part is that he expects the same from me.

He looks left and right and when he decides that the coast is clear, he walks calmly at the pillar, disappearing from sight.

My mother, Emily Mitchell, is also an Auror, but doesn't have the responsibility that my father has. She' s pretty much the opposite of my father.

He expects me to be brave and strong all the time, and my mother just wants me to take it one step at a time. I think this is why they're so perfect for each other.

Opposites attract is what I've heard. My mother looks down at me with her kind green eyes similar to my own.

"Are you sure you're ready?"

She asks me, worrying as only a mother knows how. I nod again, afraid that my voice will give away how truly scared I am.

She looks like she wants to argue with me, but keeps quiet and walks through the wall, leaving me to calm myself. I realize that I'm not just scared of ramming myself into a wall, I'm scared of going to school away from home, to leave the safety of my home and go off on adventures.

Would I make any friends?

Would I have the brains to make it through school? What would my family say if I wasn't in Gryfindor? These thoughts were flying around my head and I was about to give up when...

"Lily darling, are you sure you're supposed to, well, run at it? It looks so...solid."

I turned to see a family of four coming towards me. The parents look kind and more frightened than I felt. Muggles, I thought as they walked up to me. There was only one child with a trunk and a kitten sleeping lazily on the top.

I looked closely and saw the Hogwarts crest. They saw me with my owl and her parents sighed in relief. Her mother looked at my trunk and said,

"Are you going to um... well.."

I knew she was afraid that if I wasn't going to Hogwarts then she would look like an idiot.

"Hogwarts? Yes ma'am."

I say to her. She sighs in relief.

"So, is it true that you have to run at the pillar to get through?" She asks me cautiously, as if not to sound stupid. I nod.

"You can walk or run, it won't matter as long as it's before eleven." I say to them.

"These are my daughters Lily and Petunia." She says, introducing the two girls.

One was taller and had a pointy nose that she looked down on me with and mean blue eyes. The other, the one going to Hogwarts, had beautiful red hair and green eyes like mine. The girl introduced as Lily, looked down shyly and said,

"It's nice to meet you."

We stuck our hands out at the same time to shake and we burst into a fit of giggles. I think the nerves finally got to us.

Petunia rolled her eyes.

"I'm Briar Mitchell."

I say through our laughter. I felt the sheer panic that had taken a permanent residence in me disappear almost completely. When we had finished giggling, Lily looked over a the pillar.

"Do you want to go first or shall I?"

She asks me, fear showing in her eyes. She leans in and whispers, "I'm kind of scared."

I nod.

"Me too, but we can do this together. I'll go first and then you can go right after me." I whisper. I see relief flood her eyes.

"Thank you." She says. I take a deep breath and smile, trying to show her that I wasn't that afraid. I turn to face the pillar and take a run straight at it. I have to admit as I neared the pillar, I had my doubts, even after seeing my parents vanish through.

Just as I'm about to it, I close my eyes and... I open them to find a big red train with a sign hanging over it that read, "Platform 9/34." I move quickly, just in time to see Lily run right where I was just standing. Wonder filled her eyes. She looked around for me and came running up.

"Briar this is amazing!" She squeals.

"Yea, it is, isn't?" I say, feeling proud that I had made it through. I see Lily's family come through. I drag her over to my parents.

"Mum, Dad, this is Lily." I introduce her. She sticks her hand out and they shake it, Lily's confidence returning.

"Pleasure to meet you Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell." Lily's parents are introduced to mine and they start asking my parents questions about magic. My father and mother were more than happy to answer their questions. We might be pureblood, but my parents love Muggles.

The whistle blows and our parents turn to say goodbye.

My father kneels down and hugs me.

"Bye pumpkin, have fun for us both. You're going to love it I promise. I love you." He says. My mother hugs me tight.

"Do you have everything you need?" She asks, fixing my hair.

"Yes mum, I love you both." I say as I take my things and slowly make my way to the train. I turn around to see my mother crying and my father hugging her.

I wait for Lily to catch up. We are about to get on the train when Lily stops.

"Wait, where's Sev?"

She asks me. I give her a look that begs her to explain.

"I met this boy a while back and he's a wizard too. He's my friend and I told him I would find him on the train!" She says, looking frantic.

"Lily, if you told him you would meet him on the train, then you have to board first." I tell her rationally. She nods and gets on quickly. We find a compartment filled with four boys. I look at Lily. "Should we go in?" I ask her quietly.

She looks around, hoping to find somewhere else to sit. She nods in defeat. I go to open the door when we hear someone call Lily's name.

"LILY, LILY WAIT FOR ME!" We look down the hall to find a skinny boy with greasy black hair and dark obsidian eyes flying down to us. Lily breaks into a grin.

"SEV!"

she calls out and she hugs him when he makes it to us. "Sev" looks at me with suspicion in his dark eyes.

"Who is this?" He asks warily.

"This is Briar Mitchell, she helped me get through to the platform." She tells him. I stick my hand out to shake his.

"Briar, and I'm going to guess you're Sev." I say, shaking his wary hand.

"Severus Snape."

He says. I nod.

"So where are we going to sit?" He asks Lily. She points at the compartment. I can hear a small groan come from Severus as he looks in through the glass door. I open it and the boys look up from what they were doing.

"Well hello beautiful, what can we do for you?"

Asks the boy to my right. He has shaggy black hair that hangs in his storm grey eyes. Lily rolls her eyes and steps forward after I failed to give the boy an answer.

I couldnn't seem to form words if my life depended on it. This boy is so obnoxious I don't want to talk to him, not that I could if I tried. I hated this already, although he seems to find it amusing.

"We need a place to sit. Is it alright if we sit with you?" She asks another boy with shaggy black hair but this one had hazel eyes magnified by round glasses. He gapes at her.

"Anything for you. What's your name darling?"

he asks Lily, moving over for her to sit next to him, but she moves over to sit with a gangly boy with sandy brown hair and blue grey eyes. He looks up from the book he's reading to give her a small smile and then continues reading. Severus and I move to sit at the end of the compartment. They start talking about houses and the begin ragging on one house in particular.

"My whole family has been in Gryfindor forever. I think I would go home if I was put in Slytherin, wouldn't you?"

The boy with glasses asks the other black haired boy.

"My whole family's been in Slytherin." He says.

The boy with glasses said,

"Oh, sorry man, I didn't mean any disrespect." the way he said it though disagreed.

The other boy said,

"That's okay, today that is going to change. I don't want to be in Slytherin and I won't be. I'd rather be in Hufflepuff."

He says, crossing his arms defiantly. Lily looks over at me and whispers,

"What's Hufflepuff?" I lean in and say, "These are all houses that you could be sorted into." The boys look over at us.

"Either you read a lot, or you have a magical parent. Which is it?" Asks the shaggy haired boy.

I turn to them. I look him in the eye and say,

"My name is Briar Mitchell." the two boys look at each other and back at me. You see, the Mitchell's, much like the Black's and Potter's, were some of the oldest pureblood families in wizard history. " Sirius Black, pleasure." the shaggy haired boy says, holding out his hand. I give him mine gingerly to shake, but he takes it and kisses it instead. I do my best not to roll my eyes.

"James Potter, and that's Remus Lupin with the book, and Peter Pettigrew with the sweets." says the boy with glasses, shaking my hand.

"This is Lily Evans and Severus Snape" I say pointing to my new friends. They say their hello's quietly.

"So Mitchell, what would happen if you were put into Slytherin?" Asks Sirius, leaning back against the seat, arms crossed. "Well, my parents would survive, but my extended family might be a bit upset. I'd probably get disowned." I tell them. The Mitchell's were known for being a Gryfindor family.

No one had ever not been in Gryfindor in my family. I would be a disgrace. Severus scowls at us.

"I want to be in Slytherin."

He says. All heads turn to look at him.

"Why would you want to be in Slytherin, Snivellus ?"

Asks James with a sneer. Severus looks away, a blush forming on his pale cheeks. "That was very rude!" Lily pipes up.

"Are you okay?" I whisper to Severus. He nods, but won't look at me.

"It's true though. There are no good witches and wizards that were in Slytherin." Sirius points out.

"Come on Severus, Lily, let's go."

I say, seeing the discomfort on Severus's face. I walk towards the door. The two follow me out the door.

"I'm sorry about them Severus. Where you want to be sorted is your own choice. We don't care." I say to him.

"Thanks." He says quietly. We finally find a compartment to sit in. I can't believe that they could be so rude.

I just hope to god that I don't get put into the same house as Sirius Black.

A/N: HAPPY NEW YEAR! Please review and let me know how this is going because I really love what you have to say.

PiperHalliwell23


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Sorting Hat

The three of us sat in silence for the remainder of the train ride.

Severus couldn't look at Lily or I the rest of the trip.

We took turns changing into our school robes. I read my book, Lily slept, and Severus looked solemnly out the window. I could see hurt in his dark eyes, but I didn't know how to comfort him. I just met him after all.

We finally arrived at Hogsmeade Station just after nightfall.

We hurried off the train and were met by the biggest man I had ever seen in my life. He had to have been eight feet tall, with a big bushy beard and warm brown eyes. Severus and Lily took a big step back, looking at each other nervously.

I wasn't scared though, my mother and father told me about Hagrid. I looked up at the half giant and smiled shyly. "Hi, you must be Hagrid." I said quietly.

A grin appeared on Hagrid's face. "That's right. What's yer name?" He asks me, full of enthusiasm. "Briar Mitchell." I say, turning in time to see those boys from the train get off, and huddle together, whispering excitedly.

"Nice to meet ya Briar."

He says with a smile and then turns to the rest of the first years. "FIRS' YEARS FOLLOW ME!" he called out loudly. He started walking away, holding a lantern up high enough for us to see in the dark. We followed Hagrid to a dock.

We got into boats to get to the castle. Severus, Lily, myself, Remus, and a girl with a black pixie cut got into our boat. Remus leaned over to us and said,

"I'm sorry for their behavior on the train, I didn't know they would do that, I don't really know them at all to be completely honest."

I smile.

"That's okay, but it's not you who has the apologizing to do. It's them."

I say. Severus still won't look at us. The boats started rowing themselves and I was mentally praying. Now it's not that I have a fear of water, it's that I never learned to swim.

My father said that he would teach me, but he was always busy with work. I never went near water that I couldn't stand in.

"Are you okay?"

the girl with the short hair whispers to me. I nod.

"I'm okay thanks. I'm Briar."

I say, putting my hand out. She shakes it.

"Alice, it's nice to meet you."

"Seems to me, that you don't like water." Alice commented quietly. I cold only nod. Fear started gripping my stomach as a dark shadow swam past our boat.

"It's not that, it's... that shadow in the water, do you know what it is?"

I ask her, feigning ignorance. Of course I knew what the thing in the water was. It was the giant squid. I just don't think tell everyone in the first year that I can't swim is the best thing I could do. She looks around nervously at the water.

"I don't really know."

"It's harmless. It's the giant squid." Severus says quietly. "No need for panic."

He adds quietly. I look at him and give him a small smile. He returns it halfheartedly. We all unload from the rickety old boats and onto solid land.

We all followed Hagrid silently through the gigantic halls that surrounded us. I don't think any one of us could've spoken even if we'd wanted to, we all were in too much awe. We stopped at the top of some stairs and a very strict lady with an extremely tight bun and emerald green robes stepped out to meet us.

"Thank you Hagrid." She said to the half giant. He nodded and walked into the noisy hall. She turned to us and laid down all the basic ground rules. No breaking school rules or will result in losing points. I looked over at the group from the train and saw them snickering in the corner. God help whichever house gets those idiots.

She lead us into the Great Hall. I looked up at the ceiling to see the infamous rooftops. It was a dark, clear September night and the stars were shining. We made it to the front of the hall and were facing the teachers.

The woman, who introduced to her as Professor McGonagall, started calling names. Severus, Lily and I were huddled together in the middle of first year crowd. Finally McGonagall called out the first familiar name.

" Black, Sirius."

Sirius strut up to the chair and took the hat confidently. A hush fell over the crowd. The Slytherins were looking happy. I guess they felt that they were about to get a new member.

They would, but it wouldn't be Sirius Black. The hat looked up at the crowd after two minutes and yelled,

"GRYFFINDOR!" There was a mixture of shock, anger, disbelief from the rest of the hall, and gloating coming from the Gryffindor's. Sirius couldn't seem to hold back a smile as he walked up to his new house. I saw him smirk at his cousins and sit down next a girl a couple of years older than us with ginger hair. I heard Severus mutter something under his breath that sound something like,

"Figures." McGonagall continued down the list until she called out,

"Evans, Lily." I gave my new friend one last reassuring smile as she meekly made her way over to the stool and took the hat. It hat for a moment, and then yelled out.

"GRYFFINDOR!" I heard Severus groan as Lily hopped off the stool and pranced over to her cheering table. She made a note to sit on the other side of the table from Sirius, much to his disappointment.

Soon after Remus was called and was also sorted into Gryfindor as was Alice McKinnon. Finally McGonagall called out,

"Mitchell, Briar." I smiled once more at Severus and walked slowly to the stool. I sat down and took the hat meekly in my hands. I put it on my head and it covered my eyes.

"Ahhh, let me see now. Miss Mitchell, you are kind soul, perfect for Hufflepuff... but not quite that nice I see. You are very bright and unique, perfect for Ravenclaw... you don't seem to be the most studious of people. Ambitious we are though, Slytherin would fit you well." The Hat mused. "Well, you are the perfect fit for Gryffindor, but I'm giving you the option to choose." The hat told me.

"What? I thought you were supposed to choose!" I thought in shock. "Well when I can't decide I give you the option to influence where you are put." The hat said. I thought it over.

"I think that Slytherin would be okay. I mean I think someone needs to watch over Severus. He seems very influential ."

I think to the hat.

"Hmmmm, well that's interesting. Are you sure?"

It asked me.

"Yes." I think.

"Well then..." I said in my head.

"Better be..." The hat said out loud.

"GRYFFINDOR!" The hat yelled.

"What?" I say, turning the hat to face me.

"What was all that about?" I whisper.

"You're needed in Gryffindor." It said. Then I walked over to the cheering table and sit down next to Alice and Lily.

James is then immediately sorted into Gryffindor. Peter took five minutes, only to also be sorted into Gryffindor. Finally Severus was called and sat down on the stool. It took all of five seconds for the hat to call out.

"SLYTHERIN!" I caught his eye and he looked away glumly as he sat next to Bellatrix LeStrange. Dinner started after a few words from Dumbledore.

Everything was amazing of course, but I couldn't help but think about Severus, all alone. If the hat had only listened to me, I would've been able to protect him from all the evil that the house possesses.

I can't look at any of my house mates, considering the view they have on Slytherin, I don't the welcome would be warm if they knew.

I got up with everyone else and followed the prefects to the Gryffindor common rooms. I caught Sirius's eye as he went up the stairs to his dorm.

He smiled and winked. I was caught completely off guard, I ran through Nearly Headless Nick. I shiver through the feeling and look up long enough to hear the chuckle of Sirius Black as I was left alone by the fire.

A/N: I'M SO SORRY! Finals were horrible and took all my time. Thank you for being patient, so here you go! I'll try to be better at updating quicker from now!


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

These first few days school are a bit terrifying for everyone. All the first years are walking in packs. Even Sirius and his friends look somewhat nervous, walking close to the walls, but they seem to be the most comfortable in the new environment. Figures. I have all the same classes as Lily and Alice, and unfortunately Sirius and his friends. I begin to realize, like everyone else, that those boys together are a horrible mix. They're trouble alright. They've done more pranks on the first day then the school has seen in the past ten years. All of the girls, even the older ones, are falling head over heels for them already. Someone told me that the first night, after I'd run through the ghost, the boys had snuck out and had gone exploring through the castle, something we all learned was against school rules. After the first few months, I was walking through the halls and I heard McGonagall through her office door, yelling at James and his friends no doubt. "Delinquents, Troublemakers... Marauders!" She bellowed. She must've run out of words to use. Huh. Marauders. I like it. I continued down the hall and stopped when I heard footsteps behind me. I turned to find the boys following me. "Can I help you?" I ask them. "Did you hear McGonagall?" asked Sirius with a devious smile. "Yes, it seems like you guys were in trouble...again. Shocker." I say, turning on my heel and continuing down the hall. They caught up to me, keeping their pace with mine. "She sure was angry, probably the worst yet!" laughed James, who turned and high five Sirius. "May I ask what you did this time?" I ask them, rounding a corner. "Yes, you may." James said. I stuck my tongue out at him. "We blew up the toilets on the third floor loo." Remus said, somewhat shamefully. "Why?" I ask them, trying to keep a straight face. That was awesome. "We were looking for something." Peter said shyly. "You really are Marauders aren't you." I say. We make it into the common room to find it empty. "Marauders... isn't that what McGonagall called us?" Remus asked me, sitting next to Peter on one of the couches by the fire. "Uh-huh. I think that's what I'm calling you guys from now on. The Marauders." I say, looking at them. "Ohh no. That's not cool Briar. Besides, it won't stick anyways." Sirius said, sitting himself next to me on the other couch. "You guys needed a name anyways. We had nothing to call you." I tell them. Remus laughs. "Why on earth would we need a name?" "Well, don't all great pranksters have names?" I ask them. They sit there for a moment and then Sirius looks at James. "Alright lads, Marauders it is." James announces suddenly. Sirius pouts and crosses his arms. "What's wrong Sirius?" I ask him. He glares. "I don't like the name Marauders... it makes us sound troublesome." I laugh. The boys look at me. "Well, it's true. You boys are trouble. Any girl would be smart to stay away from you." I say. Sirius slides over to sit close to me. He inches his face close to my and whispers, " Then why are you still here?" I can feel my heart start to beat fast, which I took as my cue to leave. I stood quickly, making Sirius fall on his face into the red couch cushion. The boys laugh at him. "Well, I must be off boys, pleasure talking to you. Goodnight." I slip away and up the stairs, leaving the boys laughter behind me.


	5. in between part 1

Present

I pull my head out of the pensive at the same time Briar does. "That's it?" I ask her. "Only if you want it to be. We can continue if you like." She says, looking into the distance. "Can we skip the next couple years love? That's when things start to get interesting." I say. "How does fifth year sound?" She asks, taking my hand. I grin at her, happy to feel her presence again. "That sounds brilliant.


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Year 5

After two long months of waiting, September 1 has finally arrived.

I make my way to the station with time to spare, so I wander around, looking at all the muggles going about their day-to-day business, unaware of the world I am about to enter.

"Long time no see."

I spin around find James dragging his trunk behind, trying to catch up.

"James!"

I say running toward my friend. We hadn't seen each other all summer, but we'd sent many letters using his owl, Harold. James and I had grown closer since our first year at Hogwarts. In fact, I'd grown closer with all of marauders during my time spent at school.

I hug James and we make our way over to the brick pillar between platforms nine and ten. I look over at the clock hanging above platform eight to see that it was almost 11 o'clock.

"Where's Sirius?"

I say trying to sound casual as we make sure we have all of our belongings before we run through the pillar. James smirks and looks over at me.

"Well, well, well, what's going on here?"

"What do you mean?"

I ask looking away, blushing slightly.

"Oh come on Briar, everyone knows that Sirius has a crush on you. And I'm starting to think you feel the same way."

James says. I roll my eyes and my friend. Sirius and I had been known for disliking each other. After about third year though, I became friends with the boys with Sirius being more on an acquaintance.

"James listen to me when I tell you this. Sirius doesn't feel that way about me, nor do I him . There are other girls prettier than me to occupy his time." I said hotly looking away from my friend. I hear my friend sigh.

"And how would you know that by chance?"

I look over at James, trying to read between the lines.

"What are you talking about James?" I asked him.

"All I'm saying Briar is that you shouldn't be too quick to assume anything about him. Not everything is as it seems."

I nod, looking away and prepare myself to run to the pillar. I take a deep breath, and run towards the solid looking brick wall. Even after doing this on multiple occasions already, I still wait for the impact as I run through the wall.

After no impact, I opened my eyes to find the Hogwarts express. I wait for James to run through the wall, and then together we make our way over to the side door, and we load the train together.

James helps me with my trunk and owl, and then we make our way to find an empty compartment.

We head towards the back of the train, hoping that one of our other friends has already found a compartment to sit in.

In the last compartment of the back of the train, we find Remus and Sirius already inside.

James opens the compartment door to find our friends in a deep conversation.

They look up at the open door. Sirius brightens up considerably when he sees me walk through the door. I look away and walk over to Remus.

Sirius and I had been having some problems lately, especially once he got his multiple girlfriends and in year four. Not that I was jealous or anything, because I wasn't. At least, that's what I told everyone else.

Remus looked especially tired today. I know better than to ask why Remus is so tired, it seems to be a touchy subject with the boys. One of these days I'll figure it out , but until then I'll keep it to myself. I take a seat next to Remus and try to avoid eye contact Sirius.

"Hello Briar."

Sirius says, crossing his arms and leaning back against his seat. I force myself to look at him, smiling politely.

"Hello Sirius, how do you been?"

I say quietly. We never had a good relationship to begin with, but after Allie, his Ravenclaw girlfriend, everything seemed different between us.

That's probably my fault, I don't know why but I can't seem to look at him after that.

"I'm great Briar, not that you seem to care."

Sirius says, turning to look out the window, ignoring the rest of us in the compartment. James has his eyes trained on me. I look at James, who's smirking in the corner.

Remus looks between Sirius and I , wondering what's going on. I could never tell them what's been going on, they'd only laugh.

That's why they don't associate with girls very often, unless they're flirting of course.

"Am I missing something here?"

Remus asks, still looking between Sirius and I shake my head no, turning to the book that I'd brought with me, The Great Gatsby.

After a while, Sirius turns to look at me from the corner of his eye.

"You're reading The Great Gatsby? Have you read it before? If you haven't already, you'll love it."

Sirius asks me. I look up my book, stunned. The great Sirius Black read a book? And a muggle one at that? I can't be quite sure that he's lying to me just to make conversation. I turned to face him, and ask,

"Favorite character?"

I wait from him for his response before he replies,

"Dan Cody, of course." He sees the shock in my eyes, and smirks.

"You thought I didn't read, did you?"

"Well, I'm, I, I just thought since you're a, I mean a.."

I stutter, trying to find the right words to say without sounding horrible.

I see James motion to Remus and Peter to leave the room silently.

As they leave Sirius looks to me, fire blazing in his dark eyes.

"What? because I'm a slacker, a pure blood from Slytherin family, that I must be like everyone else in my family, come on, say it, I know you want to. Everyone does."

I can't bring myself to look away from him until he's finished. Once he's done, I look away, eyes trained to the floor.

"Come on then, spit it out!" He yells.

"Okay, fine! Death Eater!"

I yell at him. We stare each other and for quite a while. His eyes blaze with hurt.

"Sirius, I, I didn't mean..." I start, but he puts a hand to stop me.

"Yes you did Briar, I know you did. Now at least I know why you hate me so much."

Sirius puts his hand down in defeat and looks towards the window. I can't, won't , let him believe that I hate him.

This is all my fault. I wish I could feel less awkward around him, but without the girls trailing

around him so much, I don't know what to say to him anymore.

I reach over and take his hand in mine. I feel him jump slightly, but he continues to look out the window.

"Sirius, look at me."

I wait for him to do so, but when he doesn't, I take my other hand to gently place it on his cheek, turning his head slightly to face me.

His head might be facing me, but his eyes face the floor.

"I don't hate you." I say quietly.

His eyes dart up and look at mine.

"Of course you do. You treat differently from everyone else. You always avoid me, never want to spend time with me, if I'm around the rest the boys you'll pretend that I don't exist."

I can't say that he's wrong. I've never made him feel like a friend. It's not that I haven't tried of course, but there always seems to be girl or two hanging off his arm.

That started around our second year at Hogwarts. We were never really friends in first year, I was still trying to make sense of everything around me that I didn't have time to befriend the popular group or the rest of common room for that matter. Of course the only reason we became friends at all is because James is infatuated with my roommate Lily Evans.

He began following me around after classes, during classes, during break, during eating hours, trying to figure out things about Lily to make her like him.

He thought I was his best option.

"Well if you didn't have a girl hanging off of your arm every day, I might actually be able to get close enough to you to be friends with you. Seeing as the rest of the boys don't have that , it was easier to befriend them."

I say trying not to let him get the best of me.

That was a low blow.

I know he doesn't like it that he has a fan club following him around every day.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that."

Sirius places his remaining hand on mine, trapping it against his cheek.

"Then what did you mean Briar?" He asks me, capturing my gaze. I don't know what to say at this point.

He leans in slowly, not too fast but not too slow. I found myself unconsciously leaning towards him, eyes never leaving one another. We are centimeters apart when… "SIRIUS!?"

A/N: I AM SO SO SO SO SO SORRY! I had the worst writers block that I've had in a long time. If there's anyone still reading this, I'd love to hear from you! I'll try to make the next ones a bit more on time! Again I'm so sorry.

PiperHalliwell23


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 6:

I jump back from Sirius, yanking my hand from his grasp. I look to the door to see Brianne Christian, a blonde, ditzy Hufflepuff at the door, anger written all over her features.

"What the hell is going on here?"

She yells, close to hysteria. She stomps off without giving me a glance. I turn to look at Sirius, and I could feel anger radiating off me. I stand and walk towards the door, trying not to cry.

"Briar! I can explain!" He calls after me. The train had stopped and I grabbed my luggage as I ran from the compartment. I run past James, who tries to stop me but I shrug him off. I push my way through the crowd, trying to stop the tears that threaten to fall. I pass Hagrid, who sees my face and stops me.

"You alright there Briar?"

He asks me, concern written all over his face. I try to smile, but I let a tear slip instead.

"I'm fine Hagrid, honest. I'll visit you this week okay?"

I say, leaving him before any more tears fell. Unfortunately for me, the time I'd taken to stop and talk to Hagrid had given Remus enough time to catch up with me. I ran into a carriage and as it was about to pull away, Remus jumped on gracefully. It was almost empty as we left towards the gate.

Remus slid over to sit next to me. He put his arm around me. I laid my head on his shoulder, forcing myself to blink back the tears. Remus doesn't ask me what's wrong, he knows that I just need someone at the moment. I'm glad I have a friend like him. As the castle comes into view, I look up at Remus.

"You wanna talk?" He asks me quietly. I laugh humorlessly.

"It wouldn't interest you in the slightest. Believe me." I say shakily.

"It's Sirius isn't it?" He asks, annoyance evident.

"Wow, you're smart." I say sarcastically.

"What did that jackass do now? I swear if he hurt you..." Remus says, starting to rant. I laugh.

"It's okay Remus, if anyones going to hurt him, it'll be me. I just let him in for a moment and he hurt me. So now I know I can't trust him. These things are good to know."

I say, feeling sadness take over inside me. Remus hugged me.

"I don't know what that git did and I don't think my opinion would matter that much, but I think you should give him a chance. He really does like you."

Remus says, helping me off the carriage.

"Your opinion does matter to me Remus but I don't know if I can."

I sigh, walking towards the castle.

The sky was bright with stars. Hogwarts is a truly beautiful place.

"I'll see you later okay?" I say, walking towards the lake.

"Wait, you have to come in for dinner." Remus says, always a stickler for the rules.

" I just need some time to think. I'll be in soon I promise. Thanks Remus."

I say, kissing him on the cheek.

He blushes slightly as I walk away from him and towards the trees by the lake.

"Lumos." I whisper, and light floods from the end of my wand. I go and sit under one of the large willow trees by the lake, watching the first years float by.

One notices me and waves. I wave back as they go into the castle. Now, finally alone, I feel the tears pour over and I'm unable to stop them. I feel so ridiculous for crying over something so stupid but I couldn't help it.

I have really started to like Sirius and he hurt me. I don't know how long I sat out by the water, wind whipping my hair into my eyes.

I feel the hair on my neck start to stand on end. I sit up, trying to listen through the wind's howling. I can feel something come up behind me and I tighten the grip on my wand. I take a breath and spin around, pointing my wand at the shadow saying,

"Homenum Revelio."

The figure yelps and floats towards me.

"Stupefy." I whisper and the figure, not waiting to see who it is. The figure drops like a ton of bricks onto the grass in front of me. I look down at Sirius, motionless on the ground. I roll my eyes at him, sighing in relief that it's only him.

"You're an idiot you know that right? Why the hell would you sneak up on me like that huh? Where do you think we are Sirius? This isn't any old muggle school! Get your head out of your ass!"

I yell, glad that he couldn't speak and can only take my anger in silence. I kneel down beside his head. His eyes staring upward. The wind whips through the trees, my hair covering my eyes.

"You know Sirius, there are times when I wish we could be friends, and then you pull crap like this and I just want to throw you into the lake in December."

I say, letting one tear fall.

I wipe it away quickly, hoping he didn't see. I stand up and turn to walk away.

"Briar." I turn confused that he got out of my spell so quickly.

"What do you want?"

I ask him, blink profusely. I can see the guilt in his eyes and he steps towards me.

"Please, you have to understand that we aren't together. She's just a girl that likes me a lot."

He explained. I looked at him for a moment. He took a step closer to me, looking down at me.

"Do you honestly think I'd want to hurt you like that? Contrary to popular belief, I have only the highest respect for you Briar, and I would never do anything to hurt you intentionally. Though I can't say much about the unintentional stuff because we both know I'm prone to screwing up."

He jokes, waiting for me to smile. I do, much to my surprise. He takes my hand in his and looks down at them before looking up at me through his eyelashes. He really had this down.

"So, will you please just give me a chance?"

He begs. My heart starts pounding in my chest. I blush slightly, feeling relieved that it's dark out. I smile at him.

I back up slowly, only letting go of his hand when I'm too far away to hold on.

"We'll see." I say playfully.

With that I turn around and walk back toward the castle, feeling hopeful as I leave Sirius

dumbfounded behind me.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 7:

I walk silently into the castle, hoping that Filch won't catch me out. I hear Mrs. Norris mewing from around the corner, so I run behind a suit of armor and hope she doesn't see me. She doesn't. I breathe a sigh of relief once she's around the corner and out of sight.

I creep along the hall, staying close to the walls. I make it up to the Gryffindor common room only to realize that I didn't know the password. I am now a sitting duck out here waiting for Filch and Mrs. Norris to catch me.

I walk past the Fat Lady, ignoring her protests of my absence at the feast. I walk towards another suit of armor and slide behind it. No way am I sitting out to wait for them. I'll just have to wait until a prefect opens door and then I can climb through behind them. I sit for a couple of minutes before I see Sirius climb the stairs with a dumb smile on his face. I almost laugh.

"Psst! Sirius!"

I whisper. He looks around, trying to find the source of the noise.

"Over here!"

I whisper again. He walks over in front of the armor, looks around it to find me squished in the corner. He grins at me.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here."

We both turn at the sound of footsteps from around the corner. I grab him and pull into the already small space.

"If you want to be this close Briar all you have to do is ask."

Sirius smirks at me. I roll my eyes at him and cover his mouth with my hand. Filch stumbles by with Mrs. Norris not far behind. I hold my breath, not just because of the caretaker, but because the only place for my forehead to go was to lay it on his chest. Long after they turned the corner, Sirius and I stay rooted to our spot.

His arms wrap around me, my head on his chest. His heart's beating a mile a minute, and I could feel mine doing the same. We hear the rest of our house coming up the stairs but we couldn't move now. Imagine what would happen if Sirius Black and I were to walk out from behind a statue after missing dinner.

Thinking of dinner, my stomach growls unattractively. We both resist the urge to laugh at this. He leans his head down and whispers in my ear as the first years stumble by.

"We need to get food after this."

"But how? We'll just have to suffer until morning."

I say, not knowing how I'm supposed to survive until morning without eating all day. He smiles at me.

"A little faith please."

The new password is now Triumph apparently. Keeping that in mind after the Gryffindors trudge through the door, Sirius and I get out from behind the armor and he drags me quietly through the halls to the third floor.

He walks up to a wall with picture of a bowl of fruit. He tickles the green pear in the painting and a door appears on the wall.

He turns to look at my astonished face and just laughs quietly. We walk through the door and I find myself standing in the Hogwarts kitchens.

I stare in shock as the the kitchen is still bustling about with house elves.

"Well, are we going to stand here all night? I don't know about you but I'm starving."

Sirius grins.I couldn't stop looking around the large kitchen. How could something so big be kept a secret. Sirius stick his hand out, wiggling his fingers. I look at him. He rolls his eyes.

"Come on Mitchell, take my hand."

Sirius requests. I contemplate it, but something inside me really just wants to hold his hand. So, taking his hand gingerly, a grinning Sirius drags me over to a couple of chairs by a large, brown fireplace. Two houselves run over and bring us what the other students had for dinner.

We eat in silence. It seems as though every time I looked away from Sirius, I could feel his gaze on me. When we're finished eating, we sit, staring at the long flames. I know he's looking at me, but I can't bring myself to look back.

"Briar, do you... what I mean to say is.. will you ever trust me enough to give us a chance?"

Sirius whispered, flustered. It seems that Sirius didn't have to beg for forgiveness very often. I didn't answer him, because for once I didn't know.

I want to trust him more than anything, but I can't be sure with him. I could see him from the corner of my eye, swallowing hard. I continue with my silence, but I grab his hand hanging off his armrest. I could see him look up quickly. I didn't have to look to know that a smirk had formed on his features.

"Shut up."

That's all I say.

We sit there for awhile, enjoying each other's company.


End file.
